Hidden Figures (2016)

A well-meaning crowd-pleaser, with nice performances and a truly exceptional true story running things, that never chooses to rise above its safely formulaic Hollywood trappings.

I found this movie's depictions of such clearly bigoted white people and their Civil Rights era forms of racism (colored bathrooms and coffee pots) that never really digs into the more insidious nature of institutional racism, to be problematic. This overtly racist world feels so far removed that it almost makes it seem like racism has been solved, that it's no longer an issue.

All you have to do is be exceptional, a once in a lifetime genius, and racism won't be able to stand in your way. It suggests that black people do have to work harder and be superior in an obvious way in order to overcome, and this is never addressed in the movie. Don't be common, no one can help you then.

Fmovies: A well told story of the 60's - fashion, seriousness of the space competition, but more importantly the contributions of 3 women in a time where they were not even given the credit of having a brain. Why this has not been known for many, many years - that is a sad state. Thank heaven the daughter wrote the book and these women will have the credit they so deserved. A good showing of the discrimination shown the black people in the 60's - it was well represented but the story took front page. I love these women - they were mothers, wives and eventually recognized as experts in their field of math and coding. I grew up in the late 50 and 60's - so impressive that the three did not let anything hold them back. They did it quietly and with respected results - but this story should have been told in the 60's. The acting is excellent, the sets are so believable, the culture is there - thank you Theodore Malfi for a an entertaining and educational film. And Pharrell for the music.

Hidden Figures tells the story of three African American women in the late sixties as they become instrumental to NASA in putting John Glen on the moon. Directed by Theodore Melfi and stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Costner and Kirstin Dunst, Hidden Figures would be a good film had it not been so concerned with the idea of the empowerment of women that it forgot to be a good, engaging film. It has the proper ingredients to become a heavy hitter but trades it in using its excellent cast as more of a political statement than anything else.

The film starts off by introducing us to Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson (Henson, Spencer and Janelle Moàne) in almost the exact same ways. We see that Katherine is a number cruncher and a brilliant woman all around...then the exact same character traits are rehashed for Spencer and Moàne's characters. There is nothing different between the women, there are 3 of the same character in one film. The only difference between the three is Taraji P. Henson's excellent performance that makes her thoroughly enjoyable throughout a film that would have been a direct-to-digital film otherwise. The film does very little to give any development to these women and keeps drowning us in the notion that "this is girl power." It became extremely redundant after awhile and left me waiting for the film to get serious but it never did. This is a film that is more about what the characters did rather than how and why they did it.

Overall, Hidden Figures is a bland film with paper thin characters that tries to make more of a political statement rather than make a good film. This is a perfect example of political climate affecting creative endeavors. If there were anything I could say it is: if you're going to see the film, see it for no other reason than Taraji P. Henson's excellent performance. Taking her out of this film in any way, shape or form would have probably stopped this film in the development process but then again, maybe that is where this should have stayed.

Hidden Figures fmovies. Engineers and adding-machine operators (called "computers") working at NASA in the early 1960's included a few black women. Since the Civil Rights movement was only beginning, and NASA was located in southern regions of the US, these women were subject to legal discrimination. "Hidden Figures" follows the careers of some of these women. But it does this in a heavy-handed, formulaic way.

Ever since "The Ugly Duckling" of Hans Christian Anderson, the formula has been predictable: a member of a despised minority is grudgingly admitted into a previously exclusive activity. Will the minority figure excel in the new position, or will he/she fail miserably, justifying the prejudices of the ruling class? Telling you the answer would be a spoiler, so you'll have to guess it for yourselves, but it's not too difficult.

In "Hidden Figures", all the whites are bigots (except for John Glenn and one department head), and all the blacks are hard-working, clean, patriotic moral wonders. This is history dumbed down to junior high-school level. The heroine, a mathematically gifted black widow has managed to stay chaste and raise three perfect children while handling a difficult job under trying conditions. The other characters are no more believable.

The period detail is mostly well done, with electric typewriters and glass-knobbed coffee percolators. But in the early '60s, all engineers would have carried slide rules, the way doctors wear stethoscopes. There are none to be seen here. Also, any time the heroine wants to work out a mathematical problem, she has to climb a ladder and write it out on a large blackboard. Scrap paper existed in the '60s.

If you want to watch a simple-minded morality play rather than a movie, history reduced to the level of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", then "Hidden Figures" is for you.

Easy on the eye but not worthy of the hype and the Oscar nomination. An interesting story has been directed in a very heavy handed way, which to me was constantly irritating. Almost every scene is overstated to the point that, as others have said, there is a propaganda feel to the film. Did the director really need to portray every white person, bar two, as vigorously racist or anti-women, even though virtually all the characters are clearly intelligent and from well educated backgrounds? This is a film where the message would have been stronger and more credible if a degree of balance and subtlety had been added to the mix. The things I enjoyed: some strong performances by a very capable cast, a very authentic period setting, a story which is totally engaging. The thing which turned me off: the exaggeration.

This is the true story of three African-American women who worked for NASA on the Mercury program in the early 1960s. Solid performances by all, some laugh-out-loud scenes, and some very emotional moments. It's also an important look back at the civil rights issues of the time period. The climax is a bit Apollo 13ish, and I'm fairly certain some scenes were embellished, but who cares. You should walk away from this film smiling, maybe even a bit choked up.

And in spite of it being an overall positive experience, I could feel the oppression at certain points - Dorothy at the library just trying to find the right book, but it is in a part of the library to which she cannot gain admittance due to her race. Mary being reminded that she must sit in the back of the court room, again because of her race. Katherine runs across campus just to find a bathroom that she is allowed to use and never once complaining about it until she is publicly berated about her use of time. Kevin Costner's character appears to be a generally good person who doesn't care about race, and yet still never even thought about the difficulty of being forced into a certain bathroom half a mile away.

You don't need to understand the mathematics to enjoy the film, but I admit, it was fun to hear some concepts I haven't heard since my college days.

The theater was almost full, with people of all ages. I was particularly happy to see some kids there, as there is much for them to take away from this film.

Twice during the movie the audience broke into applause, and then applauded at the end credits as well. I don't recall the last time I heard that at a film. And most importantly - I did not see a cell phone light up the whole time - truly a miracle.